'ANC downplaying Nkandla report'

Johannesburg - The Congress of the People is alarmed by some ANC leaders seeking to downplay the Nkandla report, the party said on Monday.

“Reports in the press that the ANC plans to downplay the public protector's findings on Nkandla are alarming,” Cope leader Mosiuoa Lekota said in a statement.

“We are appalled to hear that the ruling African National Congress would rather protect their leaders and ignore gross negligence perpetrated on their watch.”

Public Protector Thuli Madonsela is expected to release her final report on President Jacob Zuma's private Nkandla homestead in KwaZulu-Natal on Wednesday.

More than R206 million was spent on what was described as security upgrades at the homestead.

Lekota said Chapter 9 institutions such as the public protector and the auditor general should be given greater authority in terms of action that should be taken.

“They should be able to prosecute any person found guilty of transgressing a law. That way, the ANC will no longer have the option of disregarding the consequences of its corruption,” he said.

On Sunday, ANC secretary general Gwede Mantashe said he did not have any expectations from the report.

“We do not have any expectations from it. It has now become a political report and we will handle it as such,” Mantashe said on the sidelines of an elections campaign trail in Tumahole township in Parys, Free State.

Public Service Minister Lindiwe Sisulu told The Star newspaper she was sceptical about whether enough time was spent on the final report on Nkandla.

“I hope she [Madonsela] has completed her investigation because for an investigation of this magnitude, I don't think she has given herself enough time,” she reportedly said during an election campaign in Sasolburg, Free State, at the weekend.

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